Time and Hope goes hand in hand

There was once a boy I loved. He wasn’t handsome, nor was he tall. He didn’t have hazel or amber eyes full of passion, He didn’t know how to flirt, nor did he even try to. He wasn’t the perfect guy everyone wanted. He was just ... a boy. A boy who brought trouble.

He was cast away and rarely mentioned by those around him because he reminded them of their mortality. He made them feel like they are inadequate and he sometimes was mistaken as the culprit who took away their loved and close ones. Silly little beings, the real culprits behind that were the twins; Bela* and Brona*. But either way, he was better hidden and never mentioned again for most.

Me on the other hand, I think I am ugly. Not just average looking, just plain ugly. My personality? I honestly don’t know, I don’t think I even have a personality. It might just be imitation of hundreds of people I have encountered. I didn't bring trouble, I was trouble.

Some told me I was a terrible person. Some who kept me close told me I was dangerous. I could deceive them easily, I made them irrational and I made them imprudent. Why, more than once I have been cast aside, thrown down, and trampled on, and in all my battered glory I met him.

Chronos*.

So, there we were. The two villains whose mere existence threatened to disrupt the delicate balance of humanity. It was then quite fitting that we found solace in each other. The boy who was hidden and the girl who was turned away.

That was until The Switch.

One of those days, I don’t remember which, I woke up with his eyes. My eyes, those green eyes were brown that day. I, of course didn’t notice, at least at first anyway. Without a device to look in, how would I know?

I despised the mirror, I hated to look in it. Why must I see what I wish not to see if I can help it?

I didn’t think much but when multiple people commented on how my eyes looked different,(they would rather not make eye contact with me, but if people keep on gasping when they see your eyes with the corner of their eyes, you would get the hint too,) I had no choice but to face the mirror.

Their reactions were kind of on point though. Because when I saw my eyes, my green eyes, replaced with warm brown eyes, I was speechless. Next came the questions of “why and who?” Which to the latter, I got the answer right away when I stood back and looked, I mean really looked, I could tell it was his eyes that I woke up with today. No one, no one would ever look at me like I glowed like him. And I could really see why he sometimes used to stare at me like I was so precious and shining and bright to him. Because to him, I was. In the mirror, looking at me was the girl with her imperfections and everything laid bare for him, but somehow I still glowed. My imperfections glowed, and even they were beautiful. I, heck, I was Beautiful.  Beautiful with a capital ‘b”. Without my permission, those beautiful brown eyes that I, now, possessed, was shedding tears.

“Hey!” someone called out. And I knew it was him without needing to turn around. I knew his voice and his tone like I knew my own.

I found his eyes, no, my eyes, staring back at me when I turned around. Somehow, he even made my dull green eyes shine with something so much more than whatever I deserved. And without thinking, without hesitating, I took the first step and kissed him. And he held me as he kissed me back. It wasn’t making butterflies erupt in my stomach, nor did I feel the electricity that was described with first kissed, I was clumsy, but so was he, and I tasted like salt and he tasted like salt, and everything felt like it was going to be alright.

Just maybe, right then, I didn’t feel so bad about being the villain in disguise in other people’s story, because he was right there, also in the villain role right along with me.

And I asked,

- For how long?

And he replied,

-For all of my existence. For all of Chronos.

I came back with,

-Because of who I am?

He threw me back,

- Because of who you choose to be. Just as you have hurt many, you have saved many. Without you, they wouldn’t be here, without who you chose to be, they would not exist. I hope you understand that.

I took a second to let that sink in.

- Would you be by my side even if who I chose to be still hurt as many as I save?

He nodded with a flash of smile.

I decided then, I am never letting go of this man.

It’s been ten years since then.

With my feet in his laps, with him laying down on the picnic blanket, we looked up at the clouds together.

I whispered,

- Only time would value hope, and appreciate the wonderful ending it brings, wouldn’t it, Chronos?

He whispered back,

-Perhaps. But how would I know? I am just Chronos.

He smiled a little teasing, a little loving smile.

I smiled back, with my eyes crinkling in the corner, with my gums and teeth showing, a proper smile. I have been smiling a lot of proper smile when I am with him.

- Brat. You would know, and let me tell you why. Because, I am Esperanza*.

- That you are.

We shared a comfortable silence for a while. I called out his name.

He didn’t stir. So I parked my head on his chest and let his heartbeat, lull me to sleep.

But just before I fell unto dreamland, I whispered,

- Thank you for always seeing the best in me, Chronos.

And, maybe I dreamt it, maybe he said it, but carried by the wind his voice reached me,

-Always.

Because I was Hope and he was Time, and they go hand in hand.

Definition of names:

Bela-A Hebrew name meaning destruction (indirectly meaning death)

Brona- An Irish name meaning sorrowful (indirectly meaning death also)

Chronos- A greek word for Time. Don’t know if it’s used as a name, though

Esperanza- A girl name meaning “to hope” (Latin origin)

Author’s note:

Whew! Oh wow, that was a lot to write in one sitting. I tried changing the way I wrote, was it noticeable? I hope I haven’t given you a gibberish nonsense lol. :))

So basically what was going on here was that sometimes too much hope or just hope in general is viewed as a dangerous entity, and here the main female lead here is cast aside because of that.

The main male lead here is basically time, a reminder of our mortality, and he is the only one here who appreciates what hope can bring with time or something along those lines.

However, art is subjective, so however way you interpreted it, is also great. :>>